Did Jesus Lie About The Whole Yoke Thing?
How to Overcome Overwhelm in Life, Work, and Ministry
I was overwhelmed during a season of life and ministry that felt so heavy. I felt no traction. I wanted a clear, big picture to shoot for and a simple strategy for making daily progress.
It felt like I had a dozen things on a shelf. I’d pull one off and work on it diligently. When I was done, I’d put it back on the shelf and take the next one down. At the end of the day, I’d realize that there were several things that I didn’t even pull off the shelf, let alone remember they even existed!
It was so demoralizing.
When You Lose Sight of the Important Things
In typical male fashion, I’d just lower my head and keep plugging away. Heartless, passionless, and destabilized by life, circumstances, and a nagging feeling that I wasn’t even doing the important stuff.
It Got Personal
And it didn’t just affect my work life, of course. It got personal. I exhausted myself. Because I was exhausted, I couldn’t take any real interest in what my kids were doing. When they wanted my attention, my internal response was “how can you be engaged in something so trivial. It doesn’t move us forward, make money, or help ministry.”
I wish I were the only one who’s ever felt this way, but I’m afraid you can relate.
The Real Problem: Carrying My Own Yoke
Outside of natural circumstances I could point to, there was one singular problem that was the root of this issue. I brought my own yoke to work.
Sure, I was having quiet times, reading scripture, and worshiping. But at some point, I had given up on doing my daily work directed by the Lord. My prayers had gone from, “Father, what are You doing today and how can I be involved in that? Is there something I can focus on, a project to invest in, a simple task to complete, a person to reach out to?” to “God, help! We need to make some money, when can this ministry start, and what’s wrong with life?!”
The List
I was riding in an Uber to pick up a vehicle we were going to store for some friends who were out of the country for a few months. I decided to clear my mind of all the weights and questions, so I typed up a list of all my responsibilities. There were over twenty lines of significant items. “And this is why I don’t feel like I’m making traction or progress generally.” I wrote.
I reached out to my pastor, who gave me the Sunday school answer: “Ministry is a result, not the goal. It is the result of relationship with the Father.”
I’ve Heard This Before
I immediately realized that my FOCUS has been on the wrong things: strategy, providing for my family, the big picture, and doing the right thing. Duh!
I felt the Lord’s affirmation, “I DO have plans for you, they just require listening.” I started thinking of the times the Lord has said this to me:
One of my old passwords was something like “pause-and-pay-attention,” so that every time I’d type it, I had the opportunity to do that.
“I don’t know the answer, but I know Who does.” (I was meeting with a mentor, and he was encouraging me to ask the Lord each day. At first, I was irritated at the answer, but he was right.)
“Lord, what's your sticky note today?” (Decades ago, my friend Wes was moving to Honduras to be a missionary. He was overwhelmed by having to take care of all the details of moving his wife and four young kids overseas. He felt the Lord’s instruction for him was to simply ask for those few things that would fit on a little sticky note each day.
“Prayer IS the work - 2.0” (In the late 1990s, our church went through a six-week initiative where we each agreed to pray an hour a day. It revolutionized my life. On April 29, 1998, I wrote: “I am making conclusions about my life in ministry from here on out. I will always maintain an hour a day with God in prayer – it’s just too important; nothing else matters. That really is the lifeline. I also want to be the kind of person who leaves successors behind. I must reproduce what is in me that is God. I will spend much energy in prayer so that I can live a life watching the fruit of those prayers. I will jealously guard my time with the Lord. It is the priority above the “doing” of ministry things. It really is the work. I will make sure to get to bed early enough so that I don’t need to battle sleepiness. I will never watch TV before I pray. I will pray before I eat. I will spend time meditating on God’s word. I will daily take out my guitar or sit at the piano and worship prophetically and authentically. I can never allow myself to get too busy to be able to do these things. I will literally walk in grace like 2 Corinthians 9:8 says, “God is able to make ALL grace abound to you, so that in ALL things at ALL times, having ALL you need, you will abound in every good work.”
Either Jesus lied, or…
Did Jesus mean it when He said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”? (Matthew 11:28-30 NIV)
Or did He lie? Was He tricking us?
No way! His yoke is easy and manageable. But I won’t know that if I’m not asking Him what today’s yoke and cargo are.
Want to Live Differently?
Here’s what I’m suggesting. Each day, simply pray and ask the Lord what to do. “Father, what are You doing today, and how can I be involved in that? Is there something I can focus on, a project to invest in, a simple task to complete, a person to reach out to?” If you get a sense, follow it. If you don’t, just do what's smart.
Will you join me in this? It could be a new way to be human. (Just keeping the 90s theme going)
Ps. It might sound like this was a story from long ago, but it was last week. Thursday to be exact.
-Dave Helmuth
(purchase my book, "Worship Fertilizer: (the first hundred)" HERE)
Did Jesus Lie About The Whole Yoke Thing? (Nº 441)
